HOW DOES A POS SYSTEM WORKS?

What is a POS system?

A point-of-sale or point-of-purchase is the point where the process of sale is completed. The retail transaction is finalized at this point. The amount that customers owe is calculated, the inventory updated and the cash received. Today, many businesses have adopted the system as it has helped in shortening the processes that were previously employed. The POS systemhas led to efficient and effective inventory management.

How does the system work?

POS system is used by the companies because it helps in inventory management and helps in keeping track of the checkout sales. This in itself was a cumbersome process.

Primary components:

The basic POS setup involves a server, to which the terminals are connected. The number of terminals is dependent on how many checkout points are there. Some of the other peripheral devices are:

A keyboard that is used for entering the data.

A cash drawer that has all the currency.

An ATM card reader that reads debit/credit card. The cashier swipes the card to have it read.

A receipt printer.

A barcode scanner.

A monitor.

There has been an addition of touch screen devices to make the process more streamlined. The handheld devices or the I-PAD POS are a much more cost effective for POS process in general.

Software:

The software of the POS is dependent upon the industry for which it is to be used. There are some off the shelf POS software, and some are created being niche-centric. The software helps in managing the data in a database. The data gets sorted according to the requirement of the system.

POS system offers multitude ways through which the company can benefit from the system. The data collected can help in calculating the total sales that have been made on an individual day. It can assist the company to identify the busiest hours of the service through the cash register transactions and the card swipes that have occurred. Inventory management is the most important function that is offered by the POS system. The company can keep track of the quantity of the products and also make sure to replenish the stock when it is nearing an end.

The number of checkouts that occur can be identified and the delays and bottlenecks during the peak hours can be catered to. The POS system ensures efficiency in the process of checkout at the end of a retail journey. The checkout is entirely monitored and the right data captured through the POS system.